Tailgate manufacturing process

Abstract

A method of making a tailgate for a pickup truck or the like includes selecting a pair of polymer sheets and selecting a flexible fiberglass woven mat and sandwiching the selected fiberglass woven mat between the selected pair of polymer sheets. The sandwiched mat polymer sheets are placed on a tailgate forming mold for molding the inner tailgate panel from the sandwiched matted polymer sheets. The inner tailgate panel has a plurality of spacing reinforcing ribs thereon. The outer tailgate panel is formed and the ribs on the inner tailgate panel have a cold setting adhesive applied thereto for binding the outer tailgate panel thereover to form a tailgate having inner and outer fiberglass reinforced polymer panels spaced and reinforced by a plurality of intersecting ribs. Once the inner and outer panels have been positioned, they are placed in a fixture to hold them while the adhesive cures.

1. A method of making a tailgate for a truck comprising the steps of:
 selecting a pair of polymer sheets; 
 selecting a flexible fiberglass woven mat; 
 sandwiching the selected fiberglass woven mat between the selected pair of polymer sheets; 
 placing the sandwiched mat and polymer sheets into an inner tailgate panel forming mold; 
 molding an inner tailgate panel from said sandwiched woven fiberglass mat and polymer sheets; 
 forming an outer tailgate panel; and 
 binding said inner and outer tailgate panels together with spacing and reinforcing ribs therebetween with an adhesive thereby forming a strong, lightweight polymer tailgate for a truck. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of making a tailgate for a truck in accordance with  claim 1  in which the step of molding said inner panel includes molding a plurality of spacing ribs on the inside of said inner panel. 
     
     
       3. The method of making a tailgate for a truck in accordance with  claim 2  in which the step of binding said inner and outer tailgate panels together includes applying an adhesive to said plurality of spacing ribs on said inner panel and placing an outer panel thereover. 
     
     
       4. The method of making a tailgate for a truck in accordance with  claim 3  in which the step of applying adhesive to said plurality of spacing ribs includes applying a cold bonding cement to said ribs. 
     
     
       5. The method of making a tailgate for a truck in accordance with  claim 4  in which the step of selecting a pair of polymer sheets includes selecting a pair of thermoplastic sheets. 
     
     
       6. The method of making a tailgate for a truck in accordance with  claim 5  in which the step of selecting a pair of thermoplastic sheets includes selecting a styrene polyester resin having 50 to 60% fiberglass by volume therein. 
     
     
       7. The method of making a tailgate for a truck in accordance with  claim 6  in which the step of applying an adhesive includes applying a polyurethane cold bonding adhesive. 
     
     
       8. The method of making a tailgate for a truck in accordance with  claim 7  including the placing of said inner and outer panels and said applied adhesive into a cold forming jig for curing said adhesive to bind said inner and outer panels together.